Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has said that the return of 23 semi mature trees along the revamped Skehard Road is a great way to offset the hard concrete surfaces now present from the design of new and widened footpaths; “ I have had correspondence from many locals who were upset by the removal of the trees, which provided much character to the area; I realise they were take down due to their size and effect on local footpaths but they were part and parcel of the sense of place of the neighbourhood for decades. It seems more and more trees are being taken away rather than being added to the cityscape due to storms or roadworks. Clearly the city needs a stronger tree management programme. The new trees will be planted in the coming planting season (November to March).

  The widening and renewal of Skehard Road Phase 2 (Parkhill Estate to Church Rd Junction including the C80 Junction) will be substantially complete by the end of this November. Construction of Skehard Road Phase 3 (the area between Church Rd Junction and the C80 Junction) is scheduled to commence in mid 2019. Land acquisition and detailed design for this phase is underway.

  Cllr McCarthy added; “Locals have also come to me to take issue with the existing traffic lights situation. John Stapleton, Roads Engineer with Cork City Council has informed me that traffic signals at the junction of Skehard Road and Church Road are currently running on fixed time settings as the ground sensors have yet to be installed and the signal controller has yet to be programmed. This work is scheduled to be complete in the coming four weeks”.

   Cllr McCarthy continued; “The Contractor recently added an additional period of time to allow pedestrians cross the road and from our observations on site. This appears to be operating satisfactorily however we will continue to monitor the situation. The new road layout including the additional lanes was created to improve the efficiency of the junction i.e. reduce traffic queuing. We’re confident that the new layout will significantly reduce traffic queuing when its complete and when the traffic signals are programmed and fully operational”.